I was to travel by Air India Flight 191 from Mumbai to Newark on the morning of 23rd August 2012 at 1.30am.

I arrived by Jet Airways flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai and landed at Mumbai at 10.40pm on 22nd August 2012.
The air side transit & delay caused me to reach the Air India Check In counter at 12.06 am in the 23rd August 2012 to catch the flight at 1.30am.

I was told that the airline had closed its check in 2 hours before departure and hence will not make any efforts to board me on the flight.
I had to pay >220 US$ towards re-booking for the next day in addition to 75US$ for overnight stay in Mumbai.

I finally boarded the flight from Mumbai to Newark on the 24th 1.30am after lots of troubles.

Air India denied me all courtesies saying that i had arrived by a different airline and held 2 separate itinerary they will not bear the hotel stay.

Furthermore my segment of journey between NewYork to Orlando was not confirmed by Air India on the rebooking causing me to run around terminals in JFK with my 8 year old kid & luggage to catch the connecting flight by American airlines to Orlando.

My Air India booking PNR was originally Y266E with Eticket number 098225119552.
I have put a mail to Air India to address my issue but they would not respond.

If you purchased two tickets, one from Hyderabad to Mumbai on Jet Airways, and a separate ticket on Air India from Mumbai to USA, Air India has no obligation, whatsoever, to accommodate you if your Jet Airways flight is late. Your AI contract is to get you from Mumbai to Newark, not from Hyderabad to Newark. So, if you arrived after check in was closed, they feel it is your responsibility, not theirs. This is one of the risks taken when purchasing separate tickets to save money.

The Jet Airways flight landed at 10.40pm the guys at the helpdesk at Mumbai arrivals counter advised me to use the air side transit to travel to the International airport.

I was told by the airport staff that it was possible for me to connect to the International airport by 1.30pm.

The Mumbai airport took me to the International airport at 12.04 am by the air side transit.

When i inquire with the airport regarding their delay in transferring me between their terminals due to poor infrastructure, they tell me that the inter terminal shuttle was complimentary and i should wait until Sept 2013 when their new integrated terminal will be come operational and until such time bear with the losses/inconvenience.

Furthermore international travel rules do not allow airlines to close check in counters 2 hours before departure.

If i have made it to the check in at 12.06 then the onus is for them to see to it that i am put on flight.

Plenty of airlines assist their passengers by speeding them up through immigration & other security check points if they arrive 1 hour to 45 minutes before departure.

Air India on that day has overbooked their flight and has not offered me the service that i deserved due to the circumstances that i was in that were not of my willful making.

I was to travel by Air India Flight 191 from Mumbai to Newark on the morning of 23rd August 2012 at 1.30am.

I arrived by Jet Airways flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai and landed at Mumbai at 10.40pm on 22nd August 2012.
The air side transit & delay caused me to reach the Air India Check In counter at 12.06 am in the 23rd August 2012 to catch the flight at 1.30am.

I was told that the airline had closed its check in 2 hours before departure and hence will not make any efforts to board me on the flight.
I had to pay >220 US$ towards re-booking for the next day in addition to 75US$ for overnight stay in Mumbai.

I finally boarded the flight from Mumbai to Newark on the 24th 1.30am after lots of troubles.

Air India denied me all courtesies saying that i had arrived by a different airline and held 2 separate itinerary they will not bear the hotel stay.

Furthermore my segment of journey between NewYork to Orlando was not confirmed by Air India on the rebooking causing me to run around terminals in JFK with my 8 year old kid & luggage to catch the connecting flight by American airlines to Orlando.

My Air India booking PNR was originally Y266E with Eticket number 098225119552.
I have put a mail to Air India to address my issue but they would not respond.

While it is common knowledge that 99.99% of all airlines worldwide overbook by a certain percentage, how do you know that your particular Air India flight was overbooked?

Terms and conditions from Air India:Article 6: Check-in and Other Requirements of Carriage 6.1 Check-In, Deadlines and Conditions

All Our Flights depart and arrive from/at International Terminals except for the case of Kochi wherein Air India Express Domestic flights depart/Arrive from/at the Domestic Terminal and our International flights depart/Arrive from/at the International Terminal.
Our check-in counters are open three (3) hours before the scheduled flight departure time. The counters close sixty (60) minutes before the scheduled flight departure time. Check-in deadlines may vary at different airports and for particular flights. It is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with these deadlines particulars of which will be available at the time you make your booking. In any event, without derogating from the generality of other provisions of these Terms & Conditions governing the right of refusal of carriage, we reserve the right not to allow you to check in without any liability to you and without having to refund to you any fare paid:

(a)

if you attempt to check in after closure of the check-in counters;

(b)

if you fail to have proper identification or fail to identify yourself to our staff;

(c)

if you fail to have the proper documents, permits, visa, necessary for travel to a particular place or country;

(d)

if you have not fully paid any fare or other fees or charges due to us;

(e)

if you have been violent to our staff or caused disturbance at our counter or have abused our staff whether physically or verbally;

(f)

if the Government or other authorities prohibits your checking in or boarding the aircraft;

(g)

if in our judgment, you are not fit to travel due to drunkenness or any obvious adverse medical condition; and/or

(h)

if in our judgment, you are not medically fit to travel or your medical condition poses or could pose a danger or threat to the health of other passengers.

I would look carefully at the underlined and bold line in Air India's contract of carriage.

On the said day, many other passengers of Air India coming from Bangalore etc could not connect to the flight becoz their flights came in late and the check in counters closed 2 hours before.

The flight for the day was overbooked and these tickets booked by us were sold off at >2500 US$ one way to other people while we were skillfully denied boarding by closing check in counters 2 hours before departure.

On the said day, many other passengers of Air India coming from Bangalore etc could not connect to the flight becoz their flights came in late and the check in counters closed 2 hours before.

The flight for the day was overbooked and these tickets booked by us were sold off at >2500 US$ one way to other people while we were skillfully denied boarding by closing check in counters 2 hours before departure.

-The flight was full for that particular day in spite of many of us with valid tickets not getting to board the flight.

-The airline closed its counters >2 hours before departure and made no efforts to accommodate genuine passengers.
It is never right to say that "i will take ur money and decide if u should be served or not , based on my own set rules which i framed for my convenience".

-If the flight had >1 hours & 20 minutes Air India should have allowed us to board the flight.

-Lastly the said flight actually took off late on the 23rd Of August!!.

Yes, Air India might be right to whatever it wants to do after it has given us the ticket and taken our money.

But ethically they are not right to put me to trouble.

Next the re-Booking that was done with payment fo excess fee was not done properly.
The connecting flight from JFK to Orlando by American airlines was not confirmed.
I had to leave my 8 year old boy at Terminal 8 with luggage and take trains to reach terminal 4 becoz the officer for Air India at Terminal 4 will not answer her phone.

-At terminal 4 after a quick run up & down due to everyone denying their responsibility, i got through with one officer finding my case genuine and confirming my onward journey.

Now please do not tell me that Air India has it as part of the agreement that they can do whatever they want with passengers.

Yes, Air India might be right to whatever it wants to do after it has given us the ticket and taken our money.

But ethically they are not right to put me to trouble.

Next the re-Booking that was done with payment fo excess fee was not done properly.
The connecting flight from JFK to Orlando by American airlines was not confirmed.
I had to leave my 8 year old boy at Terminal 8 with luggage and take trains to reach terminal 4 becoz the officer for Air India at Terminal 4 will not answer her phone.

-At terminal 4 after a quick run up & down due to everyone denying their responsibility, i got through with one officer finding my case genuine and confirming my onward journey.

Now please do not tell me that Air India has it as part of the agreement that they can do whatever they want with passengers.

In my case there is a deficiency of service.

Air India and American do not have any kind of interline or ticketing agreement. Therefore Air India did get you to JFK/EWR or which ever airport you were trying to get to. Air India does not hav any responsibility to American for anything. Here is a list of partners that cooperating/interline with AA: http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/ea...lines/main.jsp

# 2. If going to by Air India's terms and conditions, then yes Air India have the right to close out the flight as they see fit. Is it right no, but the terms and conditions are spelled out for you.

If the terms & conditions are spelled out to me it is important that they be spell out in bold letters such that we know what we are exactly paying for...

My struggle is for other passengers to know that there is this airline "Air India" that has no respect for its passengers and is entitled to do whatever it wants to do with your money without your permission once the money is paid.
Let the customers choose...